Picture this: It's been a gruelling front half of the the AFL season. Three months of high-intensity football week-in week-out has taken it's toll and you're feeling a bit banged up and a touch worse for wear. But the light at the end of the tunnel is right in front of you - a weekend off! A chance for some well-deserved R & R and the perfect chance to get your mind and body right to hit the second half at full tilt. You'll come out of this bye week with a head full of steam and the team will be playing its best football......right?

Correlation does not imply causality. It's among the most fundamental lessons in statistics and is one that can catch out even the most experienced data analyst. In this post I look at the process of choosing metrics to assess a football team's performance (KPIs) and the traps that need to be avoided in doing so - namely around the correlation versus causation dilemma. There are also some pretty visuals thrown in there too for good measure.